Page 59 of Burn Falls

Before I could greet her, I heard Martin start to descend the stairs. “Millie, leave him alone. Must I remind youagainthat he sleeps during the day?”

“But I want to see him before Mommy takes me to ballet.”

I sat up and leaned against the concrete wall, motioning to the four-year-old. “It’s fine. Come here, Mills.”

The little girl threw her entire body at me, and I caught her before placing her in my lap. She looked up at me with her piercing blue eyes that matched her mother’s. “Will you play Barbies with me before I have to go to dance?”

Martin’s gaze met mine, and he smirked.

“Yeah. Go get them.”

Millie scurried off my lap and up the stairs as fast as her little legs could carry her.

“What time did you come in?” Martin asked.

“A little after six.”

“Cutting it close, don’t you think?”

I shrugged. “New territory for me.”

“I can’t believe you have a girlfriend.” The night after New Year’s Eve, I’d called him and told him all that had happened in the last week. He said he’d put some feelers out with some troopers he knew from a fishing trip and see if there were any leads that hadn’t been shared with her family. I assured him there wouldn’t be any leads—ever—but he wanted to find out what or anything he could.

“I can’t believe you sound like Athan,” I countered.

Martin crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against a post that was holding the floor up. “Can you blame us?”

“No,” I sighed.

“Am I meeting her tonight?”

“Does Marcy want to cook?” I asked. I figured he didn’t want to have to go out to dinner with his three wild children. The oldest was almost fifteen but thought she was twenty-one, the middle was ten, and then Millie was born four years ago—unplanned. Fuck, I didn’t want to go out to dinner with them.

“Marcy cooks every night.”

“I’ve never had a guest come over while I’ve been here.”

“Because you’ve never had dinner here before.”

“Not sure blood soup would go over well,” I joked. “But I’ll ask Calla if she wants to come for dinner. What time is it anyway?”

“A little after ten.”

I groaned as I heard little footsteps running across the floor above us. “Let me get a few more hours of sleep and then I want to hear all about the case.”

“Was planning on it.”

The tiny footsteps got closer as Millie ran down the stairs. “Uncle Draven, you have to be Ken.”

“That’s my cue to leave before she wants to paint my nails again.” Martin chuckled and started to walk up the stairs. “Have fun you two. Mommy will come get you in thirty minutes, kiddo.”

Millie paid her father no mind. Instead, she said, “Hi, Ken. I’m Barbie. Do you want to go to the beach?”

I looked down at the doll in my hand and then back up to Millie who was staring at me. “Oh, right. Yes, Barbie, I would love to go.”

And that was how I played house for the first time in my hundred and thirteen years on earth.

After my Barbie and Ken role-playing, I dozed off, needing to get a few more hours of sleep while the wild child was at ballet. Three hours later, I woke and grabbed my phone.